Over the western seas to Oz

We begin our trip on United Airlines, in First Class to San Francisco and Business Class to Sydney.  We are delighted with our seats, the ones that turn into beds for the travel over the water.  I’d go in Economy and just suck it up, but Neil, my tall person, the last best one, really needs the room for those long legs of his, and I had 300,000 United Miles just begging to be used, so with his coach ticket and upgrade and my mileage bonuses, we snagged a much more comfortable situation, so as we embarked, we settled into the front section for the flight . . . Kindles, knitting, my Bucky neck pillow and the softest eye mask I’ve ever found – one I carry with me on all long trips.

After a fabulous filet mignon dinner, we each took an Ambien and settled into a very long sleep.  Waking up two days later by the calendar is always disconcerting when I travel in this direction, but it is what it is.  And time goes so swiftly in any case . . .

The flight approach to Sydney

In Sydney, we grabbed our flight to Perth, picked up our rental car, and drove to the International terminal to meet my daughter Ashley and her husband Justin, who will join us for the entire month of the trip.  They’ve been traveling the lower part of the world for the past year and are arriving from Bali, where they’ve spent the last month.  We haven’t seen them since my mother’s funeral in Chicago in early June, so we can’t wait!  I only wish my other two children, Tanner and Morgan, could accompany us as well, but that was impossible for them.  Another year . . .